80 series rear axle/suspension into narrower chassis?

[clintnz]

Hi All, after a few grenaded diffs in my LJ71 I've got an 80 series rear axle & a Nissan GQ front axle to swap in. Anybody else put an 80 axle & coils in a narrower chassied vehicle? (must have been done but my search fu is weak)

I'm planning on retaining the suspension geometry of the axle donors as much as possible, Chassis end mounts will be fabricated to suit.

Even stock 80 series flex will be a big improvement on the std 2x radius arm plus panhard rear setup plus I want to keep it nice to drive on the road. Fitting it in will mean moving the springs inboard a fair bit on the axle to fit inside the chassis & line up with the orig. coil mounts. This means that the top suspension arms need to move inwards about 1.5". I'm not seeing any big roadblocks but it would be good to have some input from guys who have done similar stuff. Pics to come once I get into it.

Cheers
Clint

 

[Gumby]

I have an 80 rear in a 55. All custom mounts at both ends. Triangulated uppers, no panhard.

I use all 80 series rod end bushings. They hold up really well and flex way past what's needed.

 

[Tapage]

Gumby .. .the upper coil base it's still inside the frame .?

 

[Gumby]

No. It is centered on the frame.

 

[clintnz]

I have an 80 rear in a 55. All custom mounts at both ends. Triangulated uppers, no panhard.

I use all 80 series rod end bushings. They hold up really well and flex way past what's needed.

Cheers, that's a badass 55 you got there! Good to know the 80 rod bushes work ok, one less thing to replace as most em look in good shape.

I have thought about going to triangulated uppers, if I ditched the panhard the axle could go back a touch which would be good. However road handling is important for this build & I know a std 80 series drives really nicely for a live axle vehicle while flexing much better than what I have, so I'm reluctant to mess with that too much.

Any input from guys who have a triangulated upper 4 link setup in a rig that sees some road miles would be appreciated. I'm kinda wary of trying to run before I can walk when it comes to custom building suspension setups!

Cheers
Clint